Lifetime Citizen Portal Access — AI Briefings, Alerts & Unlimited Follows
Select Board signs warrant, reviews budget highlights and schedules June 20 special town meeting
Loading...
Summary
The Southampton Select Board approved the warrant for a 25-article annual town meeting, reviewed budget and CPA funding items (including a $400,000 Affordable Housing Trust request and a $240,000 MassTrails grant request with a $60,000 match), and voted to schedule a special town meeting for June 20 at 10 a.m.
The Select Board approved the warrant for a 25-article annual town meeting, reviewed key budget items including Community Preservation Act proposals and grant-dependent acquisitions, and voted to schedule a special town meeting for Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m.
Why it matters: The board’s approval clears the warrant for printing and signature and signals which funding proposals will be before voters at the annual town meeting; several articles depend on outside grants or on voter approval of new funds and committees.
At Wednesday’s meeting a staff member summarized the warrant and highlighted key items: the base budget (with Hampshire Regional assessment unchanged at about $6.3 million), a supplemental-funding article with two overrides, department budgets including the transfer station and water department, and the removal of free‑cash articles because the town currently expects no free cash this year.
Staff said, "It doesn't look like we are going to have any free cash, for this year," and noted that if free cash becomes available the town could take it up at a special town meeting in June. The board reviewed capital items (including a roughly $25,000 vaporizer for the highway garage), a citizen petition presented as submitted, and an article to adopt the Disability Commission (ADA Committee) with capital committee duties moved to the finance committee.
Community Preservation Act proposals summarized by staff include $20,000 for the Cemetery Commission, $11,000 for the Clark Chapman House, about $400,000 to establish an Affordable Housing Trust, and roughly $7,000 for Nancy Whitmore Trail improvements. The board also discussed a MassTrails-related Greenway project: staff confirmed a $240,000 grant request, a $60,000 town match, and $16,254 in in‑kind volunteer and administrative support as part of the match.
Board members examined unpaid accounts from prior fiscal years tied mainly to the planning commission and a hazard mitigation project dating to 2022. Members discussed a water-main repair at the bridge by Sheldon’s that the town paid for and expected to be reimbursed by a grant; the reimbursement was credited to the water department rather than the town’s general fund and is now being corrected.
On motions and votes, a board member moved and the board unanimously voted to approve the warrant "as edited at this meeting" and signed a clean signature page. Later, the board voted to schedule a special town meeting for Saturday, June 20 at 10 a.m. The Select Board also agreed to hold a 9:30 a.m. pre‑meeting on May 2 at Norris School and confirmed other dates: annual town meeting May 2 (10 a.m.), town election May 19, select board meetings on May 12 and May 26.
Votes at a glance: - Motion to approve the warrant as edited at this meeting — mover: Committee member; second: Chair; outcome: approved (unanimous). - Motion to schedule a special town meeting for Saturday, June 20 at 10:00 a.m. — mover: Committee member; second: Chair; outcome: approved (unanimous).
What’s next: Staff will clean up formatting and post individual budgets and capital items online, and the board will take up any required steps for items that depend on legislative approval or outside grant awards before the special or annual town meeting.
